Hundreds of Marines and Sailors returning to San Diego

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - About 200 Marines and sailors are due home from a seven-month deployment with the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group.

The members of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165 will fly in 16 helicopters off the USS Peleliu to return to MCAS Miramar.

During the deployment, the choppers airlifted 5 million pounds of supplies and 6,000 civilian evacuees after flooding in Pakistan, supported troops in Afghanistan and helped personnel who boarded a ship that had been taken over by pirates.

Next March, the squadron will switch from helicopters to the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Several other squadrons already have made the change.